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Friday, January 25, 2019

A Quick Guide to the Roglaras

1. The City State of the Invincible Overlord - The nasty, pus-covered jewel of the Roglaroon. Lankhmar away from Lankhmar. You live here now [if you are in my campaign]! A city full of adventure, intrigue, and gonzo weird shit. The overlord is currently out on campaign, raiding the disputed territory between the City State and Viridistan.

2. The Dearthwood - A great cedar forest filled with orcs and other nasties. The chief group of orcs is the Orcs of the Purple Claw, ruled by group of Amazon warriors - daughter of a priestess who was slain by the Overlord in an ancient time. Their citadel is hidden somewhere inside the forest but no living man has seen it. Other dungeons in the Dearthwood that y'all know about include the Aerie of the Snake-Maker and the Halls of the Black Spider.

3. Modron - Modron was once a glittering jewel of a city. Back in the time of the Orichalcans it was the richest city on the Roglaras, but a Ghinoran pirate named Glaukos the Impious raised it and hauled its treasures to his island fortress. The island was later destroyed by the goddess Modron. Some say the spires of his old citadel still stick up from beneath waves, beckoning adventurers. Modron was rebuilt by Alryans from the City State and acts as a client state and port. It also is home to a large temple of Mitra.

4. Kingdom of Lightelf - A kingdom of gnomes, half-elves, and a few elves and men that stretches from Lightelf to Ashenshaft (just east of the estuary). The folk there are good, but harassed by Skandik reavers, Altanian raiders, and riders of the City State, so they have learned the craft of arms. They were eventually subjected to the Skandiks of Ossary, who take their tribute in timber and forest products. Since they are subject to Ossary they are now de jure subject to the Invincible Overlord as well. Old ruined gnome warrens dot the area, sealed during a bout of madness by the first king of Lightelf.

5. The Pagan Coast - This land was taken from the Alryan and Altanian natives by Skandiks long ago. It is now the domain of Skandik reavers and shield maidens supposedly loyal to either the kings of Ossary or Croy. They fight among each other, but the ascension of Bjorn the Mighty to the Overlordship of the City State also united these kingdoms. Racial tensions between skandiks and Altanians are high. Old Orichalcan fortresses and newer Skandik burial mounds can be found along the coast.

6. Thunderhold - A kingdom of surface-dwelling dwarves who live in a large citadel and pay tribute to the Invincible Overlord. They are mostly good-hearted, but often greedy and jealous. They wish to return to their mountain home, taken from them by the Flame of Norvi-Ridge, an ancient dragon with juvenile tastes. The dragon was destroyed by a dwarf demi-god and companion to Bjorn in his adventuring days, but the old fastness is still too full of monsters for the dwarves to move in. Also nearby are the Sunstone Caverns, which are often mined by the dwarves but are reputed to themselves be haunted by monsters.

7. The Majestic Fastness - The ruins of an ancient dwarf kingdom from which Thunderhold descends. Once the home of an ancient red dragon, now it is full of minor monsters carving his loot amongst themselves. The dwarves of Thunderhold offer gold for relics retrieved.

8. Warwick - A rival to the city state founded by some foreigner from a strange world who was abandoned in the Wilderlands long ago. The current power in the city is made up of Alryan exiles from the City State. They plot ways to bring the City State to heel, but are currently too weak to enact their plans.

9. The Moonraker Moorlands - a blasted area that, under the light of the stars, almost seems like the surface of the moon. It is frequented by "moonrakers," degenerate descendants of the ancient Orichalcans who hold the place sacred for some unknown reason. What was there, and why it would be destroyed so utterly is unknown to all and only the silliest sages would hazard a guess.

10. The Troll Fens - Fens full of trolls (and crocodiles). The trolls from the fens sometimes come into the city state looking for work as bouncers or unskilled labor, but most are too brutish and murderous to go for that sort of thing. Just south of the fens, along the Twilight Road, is the village of Darkfield, where an evil wizard who is a senator in the City State plots against a rival group of wizards in a nearby castle.

11. Mermist Marsh - Another set of wetlands along the Estuary of the Roglaroon. Unlike the Troll fens, these are brackish. This has not stopped it being inhabited by a large number of toads and the servants of the Toad, said to be god of the marsh. Many Orichalcan ruins and relics have been found here, perhaps more still yet exist.

12. The River Hargost - This river, bordering the sphere of the City State as well as the Kingdom of Lightelf, is home to many gangs of pirates. They are mostly Alryan and Altanian, but use Skandik style boats capable of both river and sea travel. They sometimes attempt to harass shipping along the Roglaroon, but a great sea monster in service to Bjorn has destroyed their ships when they sought to do so. Now they busy themselves capturing travelers and harassing Ashenshaft.

13. Plain of Cairns - A plain sacred to the Altanian nomads who live around it. It is where they set up the tombs of their dead. They will fiercely fight any who seek to defile them. Many say there are Orichalcan tombs in the plain as well, but it is unknown if the Altanians defend these as fiercely.

14. Witches' Court Marshes - These marshes lie at the heart of the debatble land between the City State and its chief rival, Viridistan. Around the end of the month of the Silent Scream, hags and human witches and warlocks of evil bent from around the Wilderlands gather here to worship their devils and plot their plots. Some believe they are at the root of a conspiracy to undo the City State and Viridistan, but hags and witches seldom get along enough for such plans.